The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-07-22
THE "BEST ROOM.
A Plea for the Reasonable Use and Enjoy
ment Of tho Parlor.


Many home builders do not consider a
house complete without establishing In
IL q certain reserved apartment, r,.mote
from the social atmosphere OF the living
rooms, where the curtains are forever
drawn except on very special occasions.
1t serves oftentimes as a sort or mon
ument to the family pride, as well as
drain on the original family e1chequer-
In short, the traditional " best room"
! remember, as a child, the recoil OF
my warm, active life currents from the
gloom OF this unexPiored ter, itory in the
home of certain well-to-do country
neigbors, where it WAS chiefly associated
IN my mind with weddings and funerals
GENERALLY the latter.
In aftertime calls with my mother I
never sat down i'll the dim twilight OF
such q one without q chilly sensation in
the region of the backbone, mingled
with vague notion of lurking uncer-
tainties and the solemn occasion on
which ! had last entered those forbidden
precincts.
Upon the same principle it Is not diff
flcult TO account for the alleged ghOstly
occupants of certain OF those stately
English best rooms.
visited several In my travelling days,
and on every occasion confess 10 an in
stinctive shrinking from that sunless
area, shut in by carved panelling, and
inhabited by sombre figures, otherwise
furniture standing about in stin silence,
either irowning In mahogany duskiness
or muffled TO their throats in shroud-
like drapery.
With such facilities the manufacture
OF tall, gliding forms in regulation white
Is an easy matter for even q Hell-regu-
lated imagination.
In justice to the English home. how
ever, / will Say that among the comfort
n Ia els Il a 1fzfi fiF.r mi bal NJ
ceptionRl cosiness and the good cheer OF
generous hospitality. the rest OF the
house being as distinct from the dlgni-
fled best room, where the latter rusts,
as q sunny meadow from cemetery.
In my own home there was too much
OF the republican spirit about the house
to admit OF excIusIveneSs being INDUCED
In by any family rooms. Our carpets
did not last well, but were thoroughly
enjoyed while they did, and the furniture
was never long enough In retirement to
need shroUding nor lake TO itself ariSto-
cratic airs.
The most charming homes that It has
been my good fortune to frequent were
those in which the furnishings were made
su servient to the family comfort; and
where the harmony OF the family life
saluted ones perez; tions with the rest
ful assurance OF a deep-breat4 ing con-
tent.
Another feature was the cheerful tone
OF their fittings, light soft tints prevail
ing in walls. curtain and c IFpets, and
the furniture selected with an eye to
comfort and convenience.
Style was sacrificed to the superior
Claims o. books, music and the culture
OF flowers. The well-windowed apart
ments were open to the unrestrainei oc-
cupancy OF the freshest airs and the
most golden OF Summer sunshines, as to
favored guests The pictures, too hcr-
monized, bright, cheerful suggestive as
if they had their mission in the family
world, something to bring for its broad
ening, its progress and the fullness of
its social life.
The occupants were not rich In the De-
cuniary sense. but, with the outlay adjus
ted TO the income, the home was an ex-
preston OF themselves, subject to nee
essary financial restrictions There Was
withal that vivid intellectual activity
and grasp through which large harvests
OF the highest pleasures were gathered
in, and q power of spiritual selection
by which the better elements of life
around them were absorbed into their
own.
To return to the original subject. let
Us haveno stately apartments SO isolated
from the family existence that the chill
dren would not enter them after dark on
pain OF punishment IL they refused;
where the glory of sunlight and the
Sweetness OF its breath are excluded as
religiously as IL they were intent on
burglary.
l know this republican element treats
Their magnificence lightly. and shows 1t
by playing hide and seek in their dusty
corne. >, dancing on the mirrors. and
leaving traces OF its glowing feet and
rad ant smile on carr cts and curtains
without respect - texture or value; but
let it come in.
While they are fading little It is
chasing tn, shadows before it out of
our rooms and out of our hearts, banish-
ing the unhealthy dampness, and making
short work of the mu-ty smells and
fancies ditto, that lurked there in the
dark.